Problem Statement
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he objective of this project is to design an online course management system that will allow both students and faculty to quickly and efficiently manage their classes, and what better place to do it than the web. Most people will agree that the web is a wonderful resource, and we as students believe it should be used as such. Today, the web is informally used on a teacher to teacher basis. Each professor, if they so choose, sets up and maintains an independent website providing access to various resources. While a few instructors create and maintain elaborate websites with many features, the majority of them do not. Why? The fact of the matter is maintaining a website can be more trouble than it is worth. Thus, there needs to be any easy way for teachers to maintain websites and likewise for students to access them. We believe an online course management system would accomplish this goal.
The two questions I hear students asking teachers the most are, "Will that be on the web?" and "Are you going to setup a class listserve?". These are, of course, questions asked by computer science majors, most of which are accustomed to managing class materials on the web and through listserves. This is because 9 out of 10 computer science professors maintain class websites, providing students with up to date class related material. This is great. It makes our lives easier and it isn't too much trouble for computer literate professors. However, students still have to manage the different websites. And further more, each website has it's own interface with a different layout and different features. This lack of uniformity makes managing class websites more time consuming than it needs to be. For example, I've got four assignments due this week in four different classes, however I don't remember exactly when each assignment is due. So, I dial into the Internet and check my course websites one after the other to decide how to manage my time. That is, to figure out which assignment I should do first, second, third, and fourth. In doing this I have to remember when my first assignment is due while I am opening the second website, going to its assignments page, and checking when it is due. So, I end up having to deal with four different interfaces while trying to remember four different assignments and due dates.
Ok, so this is a little extreme. I could have opened all four websites in different windows and flipped between the assignments pages to compare dates and complexities. But, why should I have to do this. Why not just have one system where everything is in one place, one system that does it all for me, a calendar with links to assignments from each class, two clicks and I have everything I need right in front of me. Now, this isn't just about me. An online course management system would make things easier for both students and faculty. It would allow students to use one interface, rather than one per class, giving them access to all their classes' resources' in one place. It would take some of the load off teachers who currently create / manage class websites. It would allow teachers who don't know how to create / manage websites to do so. And, it would give students whose teachers don't have websites the ability to take advantage of these resources. All in all, an online course management system would tremendously increase everyone's productivity.
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